This disclosure relates generally to presentation of content by an online system, and more specifically to requesting content items subject to one or more policies regulating locations of presented content items relative to each other.
An online system, such as a social networking system, allows its users to connect to and communicate with other users. Users may create profiles on an online system that are tied to their identities and include information about the users, such as interests and demographic information. The users may be individuals or entities such as corporations or charities. Establishing connections with other users via an online system allows a user to more easily share content with the other users. When the online system receives an interaction with content from a user, the online system stores information describing the interaction and may generate a content item describing the interaction that is presented to other online system users connected to the user in a feed of content items. Presenting users with content items describing interactions may increase user interaction with the online system.
Additionally, entities (e.g., a business) may present content items to online system users to gain public attention for products or services or to persuade online system users to take an action regarding products or services provided by the entity. Many online systems may receive compensation from an entity for presenting certain types of content items provided by the entity to online system users. Frequently, online systems charge an entity for each presentation of certain types of content to an online system user (e.g., each “impression” of the content) or for each interaction with the certain types of content by online system users.
To present the user with content with which the user is most likely to interact and to enhance user interaction with the online system, many online system enforce one or more policies regulating positions of certain types of content items in a feed of content items. For example, a policy prevents certain types of content items from being presented in specific locations in a feed of content item (e.g., a most prominent location, an initial location) so the feed presents other types of content items, which the online system determines are more likely to be of interest to users, in the specific locations of the feed of content items. However, enforcing one or more policies regulating positions of content items may reduce the likelihood of the user interacting with the feed of content items in certain scenarios by placing content items with which a user is likely to interact in less prominent locations within the feed of content items.